The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has reacted to allegations of terrorist infiltration into Nigeria’s security architecture.
Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, reportedly confessed to the infiltration in an interview on The Link Up Podcast hosted by EchoRoom.
He said the Federal Government had already put in place measures to tackle insider threats but refused to give details in the interest of security.
The warning by the Presidency followed unconfirmed reports on social media that a soldier attached to an Army battalion in Geidam, Yobe State, had disappeared for about two days and was seen among Boko Haram fighters when the town was attacked.
According to these unverified accounts, the soldier’s commanding officer tracked his phone to Gashua, several hundred kilometres away from his duty post, leading troops in the area to search for him.
The reports also say he was stopped at a checkpoint while trying to travel to Gombe in disguise, and he set off an explosive device while being taken back to Geidam, after allegedly overpowering an escort.
The claims, which also allege that information from the soldier led to the arrest of other military personnel suspected of links to the terror group, could not be independently verified.
Bwala confirmed his assertions late on Saturday when asked if Nigeria’s military had been compromised by agents of terrorism.
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“They could have one or two agents in the army, anywhere else,” he said, pointing to precedent in both the Army and the Police as evidence that such breaches were not theoretical.
“Our police have always been arrested, and soldiers arrested involved in this kind of thing,” he said.
But the Presidential aide argued that no security architecture anywhere in the world was completely immune from infiltration.
Reacting to the development, Abdullahi wondered during an interview with Punch, why the government had not prosecuted anyone if it had credible evidence of terrorist infiltration.
“This is an extremely serious allegation. But Bwala is not a serious man. So, it is hard to take anything he says seriously. But if there is any truth to the allegation, shouldn’t we be hearing of arrests and prosecution instead of allegations?
“After three years in power, the APC people still think they are in opposition and not a government with power and responsibility to run a government,” he said.